Despite frequent uses of a vacuum cleaner in household affairs, vacuum cleaning remains exhausting housework because a user has to directly manipulate the vacuum cleaner for a variety of cleanings. In order to solve that problem, a robot cleaner was developed so that the robot cleaner was capable of traveling and automatically cleaning without manipulation by an external device. Recently, in addition to that function, a robot cleaner was developed to indulge the functions of sterilizing bacteria and purifying air at home.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional robot cleaner in which a cover is removed.
Referring to FIG. 1, a robot cleaner 10 includes a suction part 11 disposed on a body 10a, a sensor part 12, a front camera 13, an upper camera 14, a driving device 15, a transmitting/receiving part 17, a controller 18, and a battery 19. The suction part 11 is disposed on the body 10a to draw in dust-ladened air from a cleaning surface opposing thereto. The suction part 11 has a well-known construction, for example, the suction part 11 includes a suction motor (not shown) and a dust-collecting chamber for collecting dust which is drawn-in by the suction motor through a suction port or a suction pipe opposed to the cleaning surface. The sensor part 12 includes an obstacle sensor 12a arranged along a circumference of a body of the sensor part 12 at a predetermined interval to transmit signals to the outside and receive a reflected signal, and, a traveling distance sensor 12b measuring a traveling distance of the robot cleaner 10. The front camera 13 is disposed on the body 10a to photograph front images and output the photographed images to the controller 18. The upper camera 14 is disposed on the body 10a to photograph the upward images and output the photographed images to the controller 18. The front and upper cameras 13, 14 are optional. The driving device 15 includes two driven wheels 15a and 15b disposed at both front sides, two driving wheels 15c and 15d disposed at both rear sides, motors 15e and 15f rotationally driving the two rear driving wheels 15c and 15d, respectively, and a timing belt 15g transmitting a driving force from the two rear driving wheels 15c and 15d to the two front driven wheels 15a and 15b. The driving device 15 rotates the respective motors 15e and 15f independently in clockwise/counter-clockwise directions in accordance with a control signal of the controller 18. The change of the direction of the robot cleaner is made by rotating the motors 15e and 15f at different RPMs.
The controller 18 processes the signals received by the transmitting/receiving part 17 and controls the respective components accordingly. The robot cleaner 10 may further comprise a key input apparatus (not shown). In this case, the key input apparatus (not shown) may be formed in the body 10a and includes a plurality of keys for manipulating a function setting of the robot cleaner 10, and, the controller 18 processes a key signal inputted through the key input apparatus (not shown).
The battery 19 is disposed on the body 10a and is recharged with power through a battery recharging power terminal (not shown) disposed outside the body 10a, and is connected and disconnected to and from an external recharging apparatus (not shown).
The robot cleaner 120 transmits the images photographed by the front and the upper cameras 13 and 14 to the outside, wirelessly. The robot cleaner 120 operates according to the control signal received from the outside.
When the driving device 15 rotates the respective motors 15e and 15f in the same direction, the two driving wheels 15c and 15d and the two driven wheels 15a and 15b are rotated in the same direction, thus moving a cleaner body 100 in a linear direction.
When the motors 15e and 15f are rotated in different directions, the two driving wheels 15c and 15d and the two driven wheels 15a and 15b are rotated in opposite directions, which also moves the cleaner body 100 in a rotating direction. When an obstacle such as a doorsill or a carpet is in front of the robot cleaner 10, the driving device 15 of the conventional robot cleaner 10 rotates the two driving wheels 15c and 15d and the two driven wheels 15a and 15b in different directions to avoid the obstacle. However, sometimes, the user wants the robot cleaner 10 to go over the obstacle and to clean a place over the obstacle, but the conventional robot cleaner was not able to do so because it normally veers away upon sensing the obstacle ahead. If the user pulls the robot cleaner 10 over the obstacle, noises occur and shock frequently occurs, causing the durability of the robot cleaner to deteriorate.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.